Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

132 reviews

seham3367's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse and Alcohol

bisexualwentworth's review

challenging dark emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

goldbs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

lil_owl_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“It’s funny to think how wrong Mom was about all that. Because there’s another option for those brave enough to take it: bypass boys altogether, go straight to men. Men who will never make you wait; men who are starved and grateful for scraps of attention, who fall in love so hard they throw themselves at your feet.”

This book is like acid. It cuts so deep and burns so hard that there are points where it’s hard to keep reading without throwing the book across a room or screaming at the top of your lungs. And yet it’s the most complex portrayal of abuse, consent, gaslighting, victimization, confession, and acceptance I’ve ever read. Vanessa is not the perfect victim, but the more important question should be why is that our goal? Perfection is not attainable; why should we demand that from those abused? 

“With the sun on my face and a dog at my side, I have so much capacity for good.”

*Note: heavy on the trigger warnings. make sure you’re familiar before starting this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide

asimpson7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an interesting read. I would agree with many of the other reviews that this book is very dark and therefore I would not recommend for others to read this, especially if they have experience sexual abuse as it might be triggering. But this book was interesting in the sense that you are getting a glimpse into what some people who are abused live through and how they don’t view themselves as victims and believe they were consenting and wanted it. But I’m glad that towards the end Vanessa started to heal. Also how Strane dies is what I imagine to be fairly realistic in the sense that the victims don’t feel any sense of justice as he escaped retribution. Overall this book was well written as it made me feel incredibly sorry for Vanessa and disgusted by Strand and just so confused on how nobody did anything about it and how Vanessa didn’t think it was that bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

lindasoderlundd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Stalking, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

heathernependa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I am thoroughly disturbed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

goodyeargoodbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

rchulin1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Such an amazing book very dark not for the faint of heart. So many triggers be mindful of them before reading but nonetheless my favorite book as of now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

landofkate's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment